Feeling the Weight of the World and Finding Peace in the Savior

Monday Apr 3, 2017                                              Onalaska, TX

" We are in a trio and things are going pretty good. The ward loves that there is three of us. We finally got the third bed and another dresser, so that solved a bunch of problems.

During our hour of power, we knocked down this street and this person comes out to get mail and we start talking to her. She is walking back to her house and her mom comes outside and we talk to her. Come to find out-she is a member that moved and never got her records sent up. Her whole family is there and all are members except for the daughter, so that is exciting! We met a couple more people during hour of power there, but the last person we were walking up to was on the phone. We were thinking she was going to shrug us off, but as we came closer she told the person on the phone she had to go. So we taught her and she seemed pretty interested, so that is exciting.

We taught a lot of people. A reminder this week before Easter is to go to lds.org and watch the 'Honoring the Prince of Peace" videos. Each day there is a new one. Jesus Christ is still our key to peace. Principles are Faith, God's word, Compassion, Gratitude, Prayer, Forgiveness, Repentance, and Hope. I hope you are able to watch them.

Sorry this is so short, we are going fishing today and so that is exciting!

Love,
Elder Saunders

We weren't too sure of this picture he sent until it was explained: ' We as missionaries feel the weight of the world. Only through the Savior can we feel Peace." 

Temple Trip, Transfers, and a Trio of Missionaries...

Tuesday, Mar 28, 2017                                                  Onalaska, TX

"On Tuesday Elder Woodhouse and I did service for a member and then we went to interview two of the sister's investigators  and their kids for baptism. We went to their house and they weren't home. They were at their uncles house so the sisters called the uncle again for their address. No one knows where the address is so they told us to go down here and down there and this and that. We got lost so many times. About an hour later we found the house and it's clear in the middle of no where, but at least we found it. The kids were there but we had no where to interview them. We had a thought and the sisters have a truck so.... I popped the gate of the truck down and did their interviews on the truck bed. Pretty awesome-the Lords work continues and then we went home. 

On Thursday we were able to go to the temple. That was way cool.

We also got transfer calls and Elder Woodhouse left to go to a new area. They gave him a Texan farewell complete with fireworks.... In return I got Elder Abbott and Elder Esplin.. Yep, we're in a trio! It was super unexpected! So much so that we only have two beds and two desks and one dresser. We had to call the Assistants to the President and they said they will bring the stuff in a week. So it's going to be an interesting week. It's been a real change, not bad at all, just different.

"I think there is no place in the world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of his temples." -President Thomas S Monson This is so true.

Love, 
Elder Saunders

Houston Temple Zone Pictures Mar 2017

Onlaska/Livingston District- Houston Temple  Mar 2017

Me and my awesome companion, Elder Woodhouse at the Houston Temple Mar 2017

My breakfast one morning. Two cowboys, top and bottom slices (cooked just enough to make them runny), then some fried ham, and then the last of my jalapeno sausage cut up. It was probs one of the best breakfasts of my life. 

I love Onalaska! Mar 2017

Our Missions' Cookin...Teaching, Service and a Big Ole BBQ

Monday, Mar 20, 2017                                                Onalaska, TX

" We started off our week by doing service-raking leaves. After that we went to another members house and laid sod. We did some service the next day for another member and we cleaned out his garage with some guys from the ward.

The next day we had a dinner/lesson with the part member family we have been teaching and it was great. He made us really good pork chops. We had an amazing lesson where we taught the Restoration and he asked how he could be baptized. He asked all these super solid questions and we talked for awhile about the word of wisdom.

Thursday, we had a party at a members cause a former missionary sister came back and visited and they had a big ole BBQ for her and her family. There were a lot of members that came. They brought their guitars and played and sang songs. It was really cool.

Friday we used up a ton of miles and went to this small town named Corrigan. We knocked a couple of doors and found this lady to teach. At the end of the lesson she wouldn't take the Book of Mormon-that was sad. We made our long trek back and had dinner with a member at an 'all you can eat' Chinese buffet.

On Saturday we taught one of our investigators and we will probably not be able to continue with her because she doesn't want to come to church. I asked her if there was something that was holding her back and she said nothing but still wouldn't come....Sigh....The highlight was when the part member family came to church. We were happy about that. 

Love,
Elder Saunders

Funny sign in Onalaska, TX Mar 2017

Me and my cool companion  Mar 2017

On A Wet Tin Roof With A Blower.....

Monday, Mar 13, 2017                                              Onalaska, TX

" We taught Patricia and she is a bit stubborn than we expected her to be. Her daughter sat in on the lesson and they were not on the same page, ha ha, but she said she will pray about her date and then we will check on her next week. 

The same day we went to a lesson and the person never showed up, so we went to this part member family who was in the area. We were told that he was pretty anti. We knocked on the door and he answered and immediately invited us in. He was super friendly to us so we went in. Then his wife came out and she was kinda mad and made us get out-in a nice way. She is the member so we were so confused. After that he texted us and tried to set up an appointment for tomorrow and he said that his wife freaked out cause the house was dirty-but it wasn't at all. So we are hoping to plant a seed.

We went to see this investigator and she was home but she didn't come out. Instead, her boyfriend came out who had too much to drink and wanted to tell us his life story. Then this girl came out of nowhere and she was high on something and they know each other so she wanted to tell her life story also but at the same time as the other guy so Elder Woodhouse and I had quite a time getting away. She kept wanting to tell Elder Woodhouse her story... It was pretty exciting... 

The next day we stopped by the part member family again. They invited us in and we talked with them for a while. We got along with them so good. We weren't talking about the gospel at first and then he suddenly says that he wants to learn more about the church. We offered to teach him and he said yes. They want us to come by on Wednesdays and he even offered to feed us. It was super cool. He loves us.

On Saturday, we did a bunch of service. I climbed on a tin roof with a blower and blew it off. Then it randomly started to rain. It was very sketchy trying to get down, ha ha. Mosiah 2:17, " ......When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God."

Love,
Elder Saunders
*The first two pictures are the ones we got from Elder Saunders when I asked for pictures. The last two were sent by a sister who was visiting the mission. So thankful for the extra bonus pictures.....

Fresh Eggs that some members gave us March 2017

His description for this pic, " Look how big the egg yolks are!" Maybe because everything is big in Texas?

Elder Woodhouse and Elder Saunders  March 2017 

Members giving the elders a good ole Texan concert. March 2017

Onward Ever Onward.... I Hit The Eighteen Month Mark...

Monday, Mar 6, 2017                                                                         Onalaska, TX


" So I hit my 18 month mark....that's pretty exciting. Time has flown and I love the people of Texas. 

Today is remember the Alamo Day or Texas Independence Day. We are going to eat at a members house tonight and they are going to teach us a lesson on the Alamo for family home evening, ha ha. We are looking for a scripture to go with the theme, ha ha. 

We checked out this huge flee market down here for p-day and it had a bunch of cool stuff, but nothing really worth it to take home, but I did find this lapel pin, and also later today we're going to this flag shop to get...flags of course. 

Well, we did a lot of service this week and taught, which is a perfect week for me. We painted a members house-like their whole house. It was fun and looks dang good! We also put a sprinkler line in so this member could have water to his garden. We dug a bunch of holes for some fruit trees that he was having brought in. We also replaced a water filter. 

We met this guy named Juan. He seemed pretty solid. He was Catholic but saw faults in that church so he left and hasn't gone to church since. So we taught him the Restoration and he loves it. The only problem is that he works a lot. Every time we text him, he responds with, "I'm working late again." So that is a bit frustrating.

We finally got back with a lady we had on date a couple of weeks ago. We thought she had been ignoring us cause she wouldn't answer her phone or door. She told us today that she had some troubles with some unpaid tickets and so she hasn't been home. At least she is still open for baptism, so we set a new date for her. 

Patricia, our investigator, had her family move down here and they're members. They are super cool and are helping her to read the Book of Mormon and trying to get her to go to church. She is sweet but kinda stubborn but eventually we will get her to church and then baptized. 

Keep Prayin' and Tryin',
Love,
Elder Saunders

Cherry Cheesecake we made! Feb 2017

Cool pin that I found in a Flea market Mar 2017

My companion and I found these cool flags here in Texas. Mar 2017

Adrenaline Verses The Spirit...It Makes So Much Sense!

Monday, Feb 27, 2017                                                   Onalaska, TX

" So we taught Patricia the Word of Wisdom and we were a bit worried cause she struggles a bit with some things, but it's not near as bad as we thought and she's sure that she can get over it. Plus, her family is coming down and all of them are members and they are super active. 

The next day we taught our investigator, Sabrina, the gospel of Jesus Christ. She got a little side tracked and talked about this one church that she went to. She went to the altar and people put their hands on her head and she said that she felt the spirit so strong. She asked if it was all in her head. There was silence for a bit and then I looked at her and simply said, " Yes it is in your head." She laughed and said, "Wow that was so honest." She asked another question about why our Church has such boring music instead of the Christian rock stuff. She went on to say that our music isn't that bad , but she feels better when the Christian rock music is playing. She wanted to know why? We looked at her and explained that there's a difference between adrenaline and the spirit. Her eyes got big and she said, " Wow, I never thought of that. It makes so much sense." We talked about that for awhile. 

We also helped a member install a pipe that led from his house to his garden so they could get water. After, we did hour of power. We met this cool guy and his name is Jay. He is like 85 but he looks and acts like he's 63. It's crazy! He is a pilot and has his own plane, but he is pretty open, so that's cool.

The rest of the week we just taught a lot of people. It is a little bit harder in this area because there are a lot of vacation homes. Our district consists of 2 elders and two sisters-they call it the double date district. I call it a little stressful but they are good sisters involved in the Lords work.

Love, 
Elder Saunders

Had to smile at this one-It was entitled, "Hey mom and Dad. Look at my sweet haircut" I wonder if this is the before or after picture? Feb 2017 

Elder Woodhouse and Elder Saunders teaching a lesson on the Restoration. They came up with an inspiring way to teach. Feb 2017

Beauty All Around...

Monday, Feb 20, 2017                                                           Onalaska, TX

" So for P-day we went to this members house and we rode golf carts and fished in the lake, and played with their horses. It was pretty fun.

We did some service this week for a member who wants to build a garden. Half of it they are going to put in fruit trees. We rototilled this huge area, and the rototiller was kinda broken, so we had to push it. After that we dug 22 holes about 4 feet deep and pretty wide ( not sure how wide cause we just eyeballed it). They only had 2 shovels and there was three of us, so I had to use the post hole diggers. For those of you that have used post hole diggers, you know that they are not fun, especially when you're just trying to dig a big wide hole and not a deep one-we took turns-it was super tiring. When we were done the member took us to Whataburger(which is now my new favorite fast food place) and then we did an hour of power. 

On Friday, President Drake came to our district meeting. He all of a sudden showed up, so that was fun. It turned our group of 4, to a group of 6. After that we did physical therapy for a member in our ward. At the end of the day we got a mini missionary( a youth member who goes out with the missionaries for the day).

Sunday we were in a meeting and my awesome companion looks over and says that I have a nice purple tie. I laugh and told him that was a good one. He was confused. I asked him if it was really purple (cause I can't see purple(color blind). He said yes. I asked the sisters as a backup and they said it was purple. I have had this tie for 5 to 6 months thinking it was 5 shades of blue and a couple shades of gray, but really it was 5 shades of purple and a couple shades of gray. At the end of church I was talking to a member and she is also color blind, so she thought it was blue and gray, so we agreed we both have the right taste in style. After church we visited a family that some members referred us to. They are pretty solid. They asked good questions and hopefully they will be there at church next week. After that our mini missionary went back. He did great.

There is beauty all around. Brigham Young said, " Let the people be holy, and the earth under their feet will be holy. Let the people be holy, and filled with the Spirit of God, and every animal and creeping thing will be filled with peace... The more purity that exists, the less is the strife; the more kind we are to our animals, the more will peace increase..." 
Love,
Elder Saunders
*note from mom and Dad: In July of last year, Elder Saunders lost his dog, Lucy. We were so happy to get the following pictures. He has made a friend with a special dog named Rocky**

Teaching in Onalaska. Sweet member sent us this picture Feb 2017

An elder and his (borrowed) dog  Feb 2017

Elder Saunders and his buddy, Rocky Feb 2017

An elder and his (borrowed) horse Feb 2017

Just horsin around Feb 2017